Editorial: The modest approach seems right for Sullivan

With bad news in hand and good news in its familiar spot on the horizon, the people who lead Sullivan County are better equipped than most to be realists. As such, they tend to focus on what they can do and this modest approach deserves recognition and support.

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recordonline.com

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Posted May. 29, 2013 at 2:00 AM

Posted May. 29, 2013 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

With bad news in hand and good news in its familiar spot on the horizon, the people who lead Sullivan County are better equipped than most to be realists. As such, they tend to focus on what they can do and this modest approach deserves recognition and support.

The most recent bad news came with 60 jobs eliminated at the Catskill Regional Medical Center, including the chief operating officer and three executives, on top of 25 jobs late last year. This has legislators concerned that their hospital is becoming a minor branch office, one that could close if trends continue.

Legislators are right when they say that they need to get the attention of the Greater Hudson Valley Health System, which operates both Catskill Regional and Orange Regional, to become advocates for continuing necessary services in Sullivan County. They also are on target when they talk about getting state and local officials, both elected and bureaucratic, involved now. As the people in Port Jervis learned last year, after those who control the hospitals eliminate a service, as Bon Secours did with its maternity unit in Port Jervis, it might be too late to fight back. Neither the state nor those elected to serve the residents seemed interested in helping out once the parent company had made its decision.

Instead of waiting for a casino or two to bail them out, legislators and especially the chairman, Scott Samuelson, are taking a similarly modest and realistic approach toward solving their insistent cash flow problems. They have done about all they can to cut expenses, even reducing some below the desired level as the sheriff has reminded them in his request for more overtime to help his depleted staff keep up a minimum of patrols. Their hopes for the future, especially the redevelopment of the Concord and Apollo malls, are small and focused, the kind of projects that in another economy in another county might go unnoticed. But Sullivan has to be realistic, and the prospect of a few more stores with a few more jobs at two malls is a good place to start.